Commentary: It’s up to agents to broaden clients’ horizons

Commentary: It’s up to agents to broaden clients’ horizons

In an age of continuous technological flux, it is up to the mortgage professional to “widen the horizon of our clients,” according to an industry observer.

In a recent contribution for RENX, Sean Tait of SVNRock Advisors noted that the agent as a critical role to play: to ensure that clients have sufficient information to consider newer, more tech-reliant alternatives “and not simply settle on the same-old approach.”

“This is not just technology for technology’s sake, but a clear step forward in how business is done,” Tait wrote.

The ever-faster pace of technological advancement along with the greater importance of implementing effective innovations also means that mortgage industry players have to play catch-up.

“This is evidently the case in commercial real estate, where change can be painfully slow to materialize and the amazing advancements we see in our personal lives seem to only gradually enter the working world,” Tait explained. “The next generation of young developer and owner is coming of age. They are the sons and daughters of established family firms – or new entrepreneurial entrants looking to transform and revitalize neighbourhoods anew.”

“As agents of our clients, we are mandated to serve in their best interest and deliver solutions that are ‘outside the box’ by the standards of our industry, but are in fact expected by this new class of client who has grown up with innovation as the norm,” he added. “’That’s the way it has always been done’ is not an acceptable reason to avoid proposing progressive solutions.”